IRELAND stayed in contention for a place in the second phase of badminton's Thomas Cup in Prague yesterday with a convincing 4-1 defeat of Guatemala in the second Group I match of the tournament.

Bruce Topping lost the number one singles to Kenneth Erichsen in straight sets but none of his teammates were seriously troubled with only the singles match between Bustari Eddie and Christian Erichsen stretching into a deciding set.

The win means that Ireland go into their last group match against the Austrians this evening with a place in the last 16 still very much up for grabs although their opponent narrowly top the table having beaten Hungary 5-0 yesterday.